3 Things Bill Belichick Said On Day 1 of Fall Camp

Out of the many answers Head Coach Bill Belichick provided during his chance to talk to the media on the first day of fall camp, below are three things that provided plenty of insight about training camp, the outside noise, and the quarterback decision ahead of the season opener:

The benefits of training camp:

" Yeah, I think that's a really good point, and I've talked to a lot of college coaches about that, and I think there's a little bit more of a, especially for us, a little bit more of an unknown because even the guys that were here, they weren't here with us and how exactly they'll react in game situations and under pressure and how quickly and easily we'll be able to adjust or not adjust and all that. We're going to have to find out on the run.

But it's the same for every other team. So, you know, we'll work against ourselves to a point, and then at some point we'll start doing some of the things that we'll see from our opponents, you know, starting with TCU.

And that's, you know, what we do is a little bit different than what some other teams do, but we need to work on what we need to work on, and then we'll transition into a game week."

On the outside noise and the magnified spotlight on UNC's football program:

"Yeah. Well, I mean, again, regardless of – and I appreciate where you're coming from on that, but honestly, for all of us as control, we can control. You know, whoever's here or isn't here, that's out of our control.

Well, we have a job to do. We have a lot of work to accomplish, and we need to come together and build our team both on and off the field, our chemistry, our communication, and, of course, our execution on the field. And so that's our biggest challenge, and what's external is external. And, you know, honestly, a lot of it's just noise.

It doesn't – you know, we've seen all the preseason rankings and this and that and all, and it's, you know, great. But that isn't going to affect us. We're going to, you know, compete on Saturdays or Mondays or whatever day it is, and, you know, that will determine what happens, not, you know, not some predictions or projections or anything else. So we'll just kind of ignore that and move on."

The quarterback decision and a possible date of deciding a starter:

"Yeah, I mean, that's a great question. We don't have a specific date.

I think the time will be when we're sure. You know, in my experience as a coach has been, you know, at that position where you're, you know, you want to define who that is and what you generally don't want to do is pick player A and then end up going to player B, let them compete.

And then once you're sure it's player B, make it player B or player A, whoever it goes. So I think once we're confident that we know who has earned that spot, because that's what it'll be, it's not us picking them, it'll be that player earning it, then we'll decide on that.

If it's clear cut, then that player will be the player. If it's not clear cut, maybe the competition will continue into the early part of the season.

And I've done that before at more at other positions than quarterback, but it could also be a quarterback where, you know, we'll see how it goes in the early part of the season. And if the performance, again, whoever earns it is going to be who gets it.

That's the bottom line. Nobody's entitled to it. Nobody's going to be given anything. The player who plays the best and earns that playing time will get it. And I don't know who that's going to be. That'll be up to them. But it certainly would be good to have that done before the first game and maybe even, you know, two weeks before the first game. The sooner the better. But it's better to make the right decision than a quick decision. So, that's what we'll try to do. But that's one of the key questions we have to answer."

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